Tortilla-machine.



P. G. GARZA.

TORTILLA MACHINE. APPLICATION -HLED Dsc. s. |911.

Patented Apr. 16, 1918,

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mw o E. a. Q MN E NN QM, 'lv NW S oo NX c w Nt. QNI m E @XM/buco@ P. G.GARZA. vToRTlLLA MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 5| |917.

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Patented Apr. 16, 19I&

mirra raras rara PABLOl GONZALES GARZA, OF IVONTEREY, MEXICO.

v TORTILLAMACHINE messia.'

Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedApr. 16, 1918.

Application filed December 5, ieia serial No. 205,592.

To @ZZ whom t may concern.'

Beit known that l, PABLO GONZALES GARZA, a citizen of the Republic ofMexico,

residing at Monterey, in the Republic of which is fashioned into dough.t

dough, the tortillas are made in a pressing, device, the tortillas beingthen pla-ced in al machine, tofbe cooked on one side, turned over, andcooked on the other side, the object in view being to retain themoisture or vapor inthe tortilla, between the baked and relatively hardouter walls of the article.

rlhe device `forming the subject matter of this application aims toprovide novel means for baking Aor cooking the tortillas on both sides,and to provide novel means for turning the tortillas as the .sa-me passfrom one j 'run to a belt conveyer to a lower run'thereof. It is withinthe province of the disclo sure to improve generally and to enhance theutility of 'devices of that type to which the present inventionappertains.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in thecom# bination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that` changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within thescope of what is'claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings: l Figure 1 shows in side elevation', atortilla cooking machine constructed in accord- Y ance with the presentinvention; and

Fig. 2 is a top plan of the structure de-v lineated in Fig. 1.

In carrying out the present invention,`

there is provided a support or frame which may be variously constructed.The support or frame is shown as comprising pairs of angular end bars 1and 2, the angles of the Out of this bars 1 and 2 projecting inwardlytoward the j center of the frame or support. j are connected with thebars 2 by Jmeans of top strips 3, cross members 11 being employed foruniting the upper ends of the bars 1 and 2. Angle brackets 5 are securedat their The Vbars l` upper and lower ends to the bars 1 and prof jectoutwardly therefrom, as clearly shown in v1. The ends of Vverticalbraces 6 are connected to the brackets 5, the braces eX- tending acrossthe angles of the brackets, The braces 6 are provided with inwardlyvvextended arms 7; intermediate their upper and lower ends, theV bars 1are connected with the bars 2 by means of longitudinal bars 8,supporting heaters 9 of any desired construction, the numeral 10indicating that electrical 'heaters may Vbe used, although Vthis detailis notin'sisted upon. Disposed adjacent that end of the machine which isformed by th'e'bars 2 is -a receptacle 11 including an intakey chute 12.A bearing y,frame 14 is located near to that end of the main frameor'sfupport which is formed-by the bars 1;

'A shaft 15 is journaled in the bearing frame 14 and'carries a largepulley 16 and a` small pulley 17. A vbelt 18 is trained around the largepulley 16, so that, as will be, evident whenthe structure is better'understood, all of the movable parts maybe "driven from a sourceofpower (not shown).

A belt 19 is engaged around the small pulley 17 on the shaft l5, and'coacts with a pulley 20 carried a 'shaft 2l j-ournaled on the bars 1adjacent the lower ends of the vbrackets 5. The shaft 21carries sprocketwheels 23. Vertically swinging arms 24 are pivoted at 25 tothe anglebrackets 5, a shaft 26y be ing journaled inl the 'outervends of thevarms,

lthe shaft carrying a roller 100, provided at its ends with sprocketwheels A27. A shaftA 28 is journaled on the bars 1 near to the upperends of the brackets 5 and carries a' drum 101 provided with sprocketwheels 29. A shaft 30 is journaled on the end bars 2 and carriessprocket wheels 31. A shaft`32 is jour-` naled on the brackets 5 near tothe drum 100 and carries a drum 55 provided with vsprocket wheels 33. Ashaft 34 is journaled on the bars 2 near to the lower ends thereof andcarries sprocket wheels 35. Sprocket-chains 36 are provided,'and areconnected by slats 37, to form an endless' belt conveyer, the sprocketchains 36, passing over the sprocket wheels 23, 27, 29,31, 83,735, andthence back to the sprocket wheels 23. The arms 24, together with theroller 100 and the sprocket wheels 27, form a tightener for the beltconveyer 36-37.

For convenience in claiming the inven- Y tion,fthat part of the conveyer36-37 which Vextends from the sprocket wheels 29 to the sprocket wheels31 may be called a top run, the part of the conveyer which extends fromthe sprocket wheels 31 to the sprocketV wheels `33 being designated anupper intermediate run, the part of the conveyer extending from thesprocket wheels 33 to the sprocket wheels 35 being designated as lowerintermediate run, and the part of the conveyer which extends from thesprocket wheels 35 across the sprocket wheels 23^and 27 being called alower run. That part of the conveyerA 36-37 which extends around thesprocket wheels 31 is the rst bend of the conveyer, and that part of theconveyer which extends aroundV the sprocket wheels 35 is the second'bend of the conveyer.

p A shaft 38 is journaled on the bars 2 near to .the upper ends thereofand carries a Ysprocket wheel 39 around which is trained a chain 40engaged with a. sprocket wheel 41 on the shaft 30, so that the shaft 38may be driven from the shaft 30. The shaft 38 carries sprocket wheels42. Sprocket wheels Y 43 are carried by a drum 103 mounted on a shaft 44journaled in arms 45 pivoted at 46 to the bars 2. A shaft 47 is mountedto rotate on the bars 2 near tothe lower ends thereof and carriessprocket wheels 48. There are sprocketvwheels 49 on the shaft 34.

The numeral 50 marks sprocket wheels carried by a drum 104 supported bya Shaft 51 journaled on the bars 1 and disposed ap-` proximately in acommon horizontal plane Vthe sprocket wheels 43 constitute a tightenerfor the belt conveyer 53-54 1t is to be observed that those parts of thebelt conveyer 53-54 which coperate with the sprocket wheels 52-49constitute cake turners, coacting with the iirst and second bends of thebelt conveyerV 36-37 above defined. From the sprocket wheels 52, thebelt conveyer 53-54 extends below the upper intermediate run of thevbelt conveyer 36-37, and from the sprocket wheels 50 the belt conveyer53-54 extends `above the lower intermediate run of the belt conveyer36-37. The construction is such that when the tortillas move in thedirection of the arrow A of Fig. 1 along the first conveyer 36-37, thetortillas will 'be turned by that portion of the conveyer 53-54 whichcoperates with the sprocket wheels 52, the tortillas traveling alongbetween spaced parts of the two conveyers, until the sprocket'wheels 50are reached, whereupon the tortillas are turned bymechanism to bedescribedhereinafter. From the sprocket wheels 50, the tortillas, havingbeen inverted, travel between spaced portions of the' conveyers untilthe sprocket wheels 35 are reached, whereupon the tortillas are turnedby that portionof'the conveyer 53.- 54 which-engages with the sprocketwheels '49', andere deposited bythe chute12 inthe receptacle 11, thetortillas being baked orY cooked by the action of the heaters 9, as thetortillas are moved along.

A belt 56 has frictional contact with the drum 55 on the shaft 32 andshapes itself to the drum 104 as the tortillas move down.- Y

wardly across the drum 104. The belt 56 is supported and guided onrollers 57 carried by the arms?. The belt 56 constitutes a cake turner,driven by the drum 55 and cooperating with the drum 104, and with the.bend in the conveyer 53-54, where the same engages the sprocket wheels50.

The operation of the structure has been dealt with'hereinbefore step bystep, but by way of rsum, itmay Vbe stated that when the shaft 15 isdriven `by means of thepulley 16 .and the belt 18, the pulley'17 drivesthe belt 19 and thelatter, coperating with` the pulley 20, drives thefirst conveyer36- 37. From the iirst conveyer, motion is im-e, parted tothe second conveyer 53-54 by means of the chain 40, the sprocketwheel 39on the shaft 38 and the sprocket wheel 41 on the shaft 30.V Thetortillas areV advanced with respect to the heaters 9, and are turned Arepeatedly, the tortillas ultimately being de-V livered into thereceptacle 11. Y

Especial attention is directed to the belt 56, which forms a turner, andto the way in which this belt is mounted and operated.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a machine for cooking tortillas, a frame; a lirst endless beltconveyer; means on the frame for disposing` the first conveyer to form atop run, an upper intermediate run, a lowerintermediate run, a bottomrun connected with the top run, and bends connecting certain of theruns;a second endless belt conveyer; means'on the frame for disposing thesecond conveyer 1 parallel to the bends to, form cake turners, fordisposing the second conveyer parallel to and below the upperintermediate run,for disposing thel second .conveyer parallel to andabove the lower intermediate run, and for fashiomng a bend in the secondconveyer; a

cake turner cooperating With the bend or the second eonveyer, and means-for heating` oertain ofthe runs.

2. A machine for cooking tortillas, conn structecas described in claiml, in combination ber over which the first @envoyer passes, between theintermediate runs, the machine being characterized, further, by the factthat the balie turner which cooperates with the bend of the secondconveyor is in the form of a belt driven by the rotary member; andframecarried means ior supporting the last specified belt.

3. A machine for cooking tortillas, comprising` a frame; rotary membersthereon; belt com'eyers engaged around the rotary h a rotaryframe-supported inein-` members and located one inside of the other;means for heating the belt conveyers; a belt disposed approximately atright angles to the conveyors, one run of the belt engaging one of therotary members in driving relation, end the other runV of the beltCoperatingq With the other rot-ary member to form a cake turner; andframe-Carried means for supporting the last specified belt adjacent saidother rotary member. p in testimony that l claim the foregoing as myown, I have hereto ailiXed my signature in the presence of twoWitnesses.

PABLO GONZALES GARZA. l/Vitnesses: v Jesi; P. GARCIA, L. FRI/1n.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

